trailer wiring question

[Spoon]

Hey y'all, I'm just getting ready to rewire my m416. My rig currently has a 7-way port of the back so I've put together what I think I need on etrailer.com.

question... The connector itself comes with eight feet of wire. How many more feet of wire do y'all think I need to finish getting the taillights on?

question... Their 7strand wire is like 3 bucks a foot. I was at Ace today and I saw 7 strand thermostat wire for 49 cents a foot. Could I use that instead?

I appreciate any advice...
Thanks
Chris

 

[off-roader]

So long as the individual wires have are similar gauge in size.

 

[Martyn]

The 7 wires in a trailer typically are 10 gauge, 12 gauge, and 14 gauge.

Thermostat wire is 18 gauge, so it's not going to work.

A 7-way plug is set up for:
Ground
Electric Brake
Running Lights
12 volt
Left Turn
Right Turn
Auxiliary or reverse

If all you need is lights and turn signals:
Ground
Running Lights
Left Turn
Right Turn

Then 4 wires will do.

The 7-way plug can just be hooked up to a standard 4-wire loom. Much less expensive.

I'd suggest you run a 7-way plug back to a junction box. Then wire in your 4-wire loom. This gives you the ability to add 12 volt, electric brakes, and reverse later.

 

[off-roader]

The 7 wires in a trailer typically are 10 gauge, 12 gauge, and 14 gauge.

Thermostat wire is 18 gauge, so it's not going to work.

And there you go. :sombrero:

The reason it needs to be the same gauge (size) or bigger is it needs to be the same or bigger size wire to be able to carry the appropriate amount of current to power those lights.

HTH.

 

[R_Lefebvre]

I bet thermostat wire is also solid strand, so less flexible. Also, the jacket would be much thinner. Go with the proper trailer wire.

 

[Spoon]

The 7-way plug can just be hooked up to a standard 4-wire loom. Much less expensive.

I'd suggest you run a 7-way plug back to a junction box. Then wire in your 4-wire loom. This gives you the ability to add 12 volt, electric brakes, and reverse later.

ok it looks like the running lights and turn signals use 14 gauge wire. I'm thinking of just getting a 3 wire strand as I don't really need to extend the ground do I? can't I connect it to any bare metal on teh trailer?